


More Than Just This

by Startswithgoodbye



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-01-21 13:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21300185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Startswithgoodbye/pseuds/Startswithgoodbye
Summary: Mal had been hiding out since an incident changed her life. Her friends have not seen or heard from her in almost two years. When she gets an invitation to Auradon, Maleficent sees it as an opportunity to escape from the prison. Is Mal strong enough to complete her mother's wishes? Will she be able to enlist her friends to help or will her betrayal prevent them from mending fences?
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's an idea I've had floating in my mind. Let me know what you think.

“Mal!” Maleficent yelled from the doorway. She couldn’t be bothered to actually walk in the room and calmly wake her daughter up. She had just received the letter about a special invitation to Auradon for her daughter and she was thrilled. 

“Must you insist on doing that?” Mal grumbled from bed, but she didn’t move. She wanted to relish in her own sleep land for a little while longer. 

“It’s time to get up. There is news.” Maleficent was growing impatient. She didn’t want to waste another second. “Do you need help or can you get up quickly?” 

Mal huffed and slowly opened her eyes. “I got it.” 

“I’ll meet you in the common room. You have two minutes before I come back and force you out of bed.” Maleficent walked out of the door. She knew her daughter was extremely headstrong. 

Mal reached up and grabbed the handles that hung above her bed. Her body was still slightly weak from sleep, but she still had enough strength to pull herself up. Once she got in a sitting position, she scooted her body to the edge of the bed and maneuvered her body to the chair parked beside it. She released the break and began to wheel to where her mother was waiting for her. “What did you need?” 

“Oh, lose the attitude.” Maleficent rolled her eyes at her daughter. She wasn’t going to let a sour mood ruin her excitement. She walked to the window that faced the city that banished them to the Isle all those years ago. “You have an invitation to go to school in Auradon.” She gestured to the far off city. 

“No,” Mal grimaced. She didn’t want to be surrounded by a crowd of people, much less leave the house. “I’m not going.” She told her mother defiantly. She had not left the comfort of her home in almost two years, not since the incident. 

October 18, 2017 started out like any other day for Mal. She left to meet her friends at the safe house on the other side of the Isle. She walked around similar to her mother. She held no fear in her eyes as she glided down the streets to the hide out she and her friends had. She threw the rock at the sign that was connected to the gate. She walked swiftly up the stairs to the room. 

“About time,” Jay, Jafar’s son, called out. It was no secret he was extremely impatient. He never had to wait for anything in his life; he simply took everything he wanted. 

“Oh, shut up,” Mal shot back at him. “Are you ready?” Mal glanced around the room for the others. “Where is Evie?” Mal noticed her best friend missing. Jay and Carlos, Cruella de Vil’s son, shrugged. Evie was rarely late to anything. The girl strived on being punctual. After all, if she was ever going to nab a prince, she would have to be on time for everything.

“I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.” Carlos recalled. “She said she was going home to do something for her mother and that was it.” 

Mal rolled her eyes. Leave it to Evil Queen to throw off Evie’s time management skills. “I’ll go get her. I’ll be back in a little while.” Mal walked down the stairs to the street. Evie lived the farthest away from the hide out, but there was a shortcut through some alleyways that Mal frequently took. 

Mal heard the fighting before she actually saw it. The Isle was notorious for fighting among different gangs. Normally, someone could about business unnoticed, so Mal didn’t think twice as the noise got louder. She saw the arguing people out of the corner of her right eye but paid no attention after she passed them. She could see Evie’s house right in front of her when she felt a piercing pain in her back. She screamed out in agony as she fell to her knees and then landed finally on her stomach. She could only hear white noise as her vision started to spot. This was by far the worst pain she had ever felt.

Mal was immediately shaken from her flash back by her mother’s voice. “You are going. Don’t you get it? This is our one chance to escape this prison.” It was no secret Maleficent was single handedly the most feared villain on the Isle, but that didn’t mean she wanted to stay here. “Listen, if you get the wand, we can be free.” Maleficent said as though the whole plan was obvious.

“And how do you expect me to do that?” Mal gestured to the chair she was confined in. “I’m not exactly able to run rampant.” 

“You play the pity card.” Maleficent waved her off. “If you don’t come back with the wand, you are grounded forever.” Mal tried to win a stare off with her mother, but it was pointless. No one ever won against Maleficent. “I win.” She singsonged in victory. 

“Fine,” Mal sighed. She didn’t want to go, but she had no choice in the matter. She didn’t want the whole world to know that she still existed. After the incident, Mal took coverage in the house. She hadn’t seen the outside world in nearly two years. Rumors were constantly circling around what happened that day. No one had seen or heard from the two guys that started the fight. Many people swore they could hear the screams of the men through the walls of the house. Many claimed that Maleficent had killed them for killing her daughter. She had no clue what her friends thought but it was all pointless. There was no way she could protect and instill fear the way she used to. She sighed when she realized in just a few short month it had been two years since she last saw her friends. Maleficent sent them away at the beginning and eventually they stopped coming. “When do I leave?” 

“In an hour,” Mal’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. There was no way she could get all of her things together before then. “Oh don’t get yourself going,” Maleficent rolled her eyes. Her daughter had been near insufferable with her anxiety since the incident. “You’ll have plenty of time.” She started to go back to the room Mal had just rolled out of. “I’ll gather your clothes. You get whatever else you need.” She went straight for the closet. Mal had been living every day in sweat pants and baggy shirts. It was the easiest thing to slip on and off. She looked at the jacket hanging in the very back of the closet. Mal used to wear it every day on her adventures with her friends. She felt bad keeping the fact that she wasn’t the only one going to Auradon, but she needed this win. Mal needed this win. She decided to grab the jacket and hide it deep in the bag. She hoped Mal would return to be the ruthless leader she once was, wheel chair and all. 

The next hour was a whirlwind of packing for Mal. She was sure there were things in Auradon that she would have access to, but she wanted to get the things she was used to. She had made a device to help her slip on socks and she wasn’t about to ask for help. 

“The car is here.” Maleficent’s voice broke through Mal’s thoughts. She was overthinking the plan to help her mother escape once more. “Let’s wheel you out.” Maleficent went to the back of the chair and began to push her to the door. 

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Mal began to feel apprehensive each inch closer to the door she got. “I can’t leave you here.” She knew it was a lame excuse. She needed her mother far more than the other way around, but she wasn’t going to admit it. 

“You’re going.” Maleficent’s word was final. She kept pushing Mal to the doorway. She wasn’t going to give Mal a chance to back the chair up with her hands so she pulled the chair around and opened the door with one hand. “It’s going to be fine.” She told her daughter before she pulled her out of the house. 

It felt like time stood still for Mal. She scrunched her nose at the fresh air that still smelled as bad as she remembered. She held her head down and refused to meet the eyes of anyone staring at her. She could hear the whispers of the people crowding the car.

“Mal?” Mal heard her name in a whisper. She knew the voice very well even though she hadn’t heard it in almost two years. Mal glanced up to see the familiar eyes of her blue haired best friend, Evie. “You’re alive?” Evie asked softly. She thought it was all just a dream. 

“Yeah,” Mal whispered and moved her eyes across the faces of her old best friends. Shock and betrayal was written all over their faces and Mal had to look down to hide her shame. She didn’t want them to see her like this. In fact, she didn’t want anyone to see her like this. She thought that this was the way no one would have to find out about the truth. 

“Why…” Her friend, Jay, trailed off. She didn’t want to answer anything. She just wanted to leave in the car. She didn’t even know why everyone was gathered there. 

“We need to leave.” One of the Auradon guards told the group. He was horrified by the girl in the wheelchair. He was told that he was picking up four kids from the Isle, but not once was it mentioned the disability of one. “Do you need help?” He approached Mal cautiously.

“No,” Mal stuck her head up at the request. She carefully wheeled herself to the side of the car and maneuvered her chair make sliding in a bit easier. Once she put the brakes on, she slid into the car. “Mother, can you grab the chair?” Mal poked her head out of the door. She waited until Maleficent grabbed the chair out of the way and shut the door on the surprised faces. She breathed out in relief the second she was alone but her relief was short lived with the door opened again. 

“Can you slide over?” It was Carlos who asked. He had been relatively quiet since she exited the house, but that didn’t stop the surprise written on his face. 

“Why?” Mal wasn’t vicious when she asked. She only felt shame coursing through her veins. 

“We are going.” Evie said as though it was obvious. She didn’t know how to feel about seeing her friend. She had blamed herself every day since the incident. She was the one who got caught up in her beauty routine. It was her who Mal was going to get that day. She thought that her friend had died the second she found her on the ground. She was angry that she was left in the dark for so long. 

“Oh,” Mal whispered. She manually moved her legs and used her arms to move the rest of her body. Once she was out of the way, the others began to pile in the seats facing her. Mal leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She had no idea what the car ride was going to entail and she wasn’t ready for the questions or the betrayal the others had for her.


	2. Chapter 2

The driver drove slowly to the edge of the Isle and reached for the remote to the barrier. He wasn’t sure the proper protocol for handling the situation. He wanted to call the prince and warn him about the newest discovery. He could hear the chatter of the children in the back of the car. He wished the partition was rolled down so he could listen. Even though the one was disabled, he didn’t trust any of them as far as he could throw them. As if fate was on his side, the barrier between the front and back of the car rolled down. He glanced into the rearview mirror and looked at the scene without drawing too much attention to himself. 

“Evie, you wouldn’t understand.” The purple haired girl had her head back against the seat with her eyes closed. He couldn’t quite make out her face, but the sound of her voice was pitiful. 

“Mal, do you know what we went through? We thought we lost our best friend, our leader, and you were off just hiding away.” Evie answered Mal. Her voice held nothing but the weight of pain in it. She wanted to be grateful that her friend was still alive, but it hurt her that she was lied to. 

“Can you drop it?” Mal wanted nothing more than to be transported out of the car. She contemplated opening the door and jumping out, but it would take too long to flee and she couldn’t really swim. 

“No,” The boy with the long hair answered her. “We thought you were dead. Evie still has nightmares about finding you that night. Don’t you get that we mourned your loss?” He was never one to hold in his anger and all his emotions resulted in anger. 

“Jay,” Mal mumbled quietly. She danced her fingers across her thighs. It was a nervous tick she developed right after the incident. She had secretly hoped one day she would regain feeling, but it was just a stupid dream. 

“Whatever,” Jay sat back against the seat. The rest of the ride over to the school was quiet. The tension hung awkwardly in the air. Jay looked out the window and squinted his eyes. Everything seemed so bright and cheerful. It was a culture shock.

“We are approaching the school now.” The driver told the group. He felt his words disappear in the silence. He wasn’t sure whether or not to offer his assistance to Mal. 

Mal took the time to open her eyes. She carefully avoided the other faces in the car and looked outside. She took in the vibrant colors. She grimaced at the brightness that surrounded everything. She sideways glanced at the three other faces in the car. She noticed the slight changes in each of them. Carlos hair had significantly changed. Instead of the near black hair he had less than two years ago, he now had black roots with white hair. Jay’s face had hardened in a way Mal didn’t like. Evie had grown more than any of them. Mal couldn’t catch the innocence on Evie’s face anymore. 

“Oh joy, a welcome parade,” Carlos said sarcastically. Mal turned her head to look out the opposite window. She noticed the large crowd assembled in front of a large building. She couldn’t hear the noise from the outside, but she did notice the chatter among everyone. 

“If you could all exit on your right,” The driver instructed as he stopped the car. He didn’t budge from the seat. He didn’t want to deal with the royals for not warning them about what he discovered on the Isle. “Maybe they already are aware of the circumstances and it just slipped their minds,” he thought to himself. He watched in the rearview mirror as the three abled bodies moved out of the car. 

Mal could hear the band playing the second Jay opened the door. She watched as her three old friends got out of the car. She didn’t want to be a burden and ask for help, but she had no clue how to get out. She looked out the door but could only see the backs of the three. 

“Welcome!” Mal heard a voice greet the kids. “Aren’t there four of you?” The voice questioned. She saw Jay’s head jerk back to the car before he moved slightly. “You don’t have to be scared. My name is Ben.” Mal was greeted by a boy about her age in a blue blazer and yellow pants. 

Mal shot him a look. She wasn’t scared. She was just stuck. “I’m not scared.” Mal sneered. She couldn’t blame him for not knowing her predicament, after all, no one knew on the Isle. “I just can’t get out.”

“What do you mean?” He was genuinely confused. He looked back at the other teens that came from the Isle, but none of them offered any advice. “Are you hurt?” He didn’t want to draw conclusions about the Isle, but he didn’t know what the problem was. 

“You could say that,” Mal muttered. She shifted her body and legs to move closer to the doorway. “Could you get my chair out of the trunk?” Mal didn’t make eye contact with anyone. 

“Of course, the princess of the Isle needs a chair. She can’t be bothered to stand with us commoners.” Mal heard someone say. She rolled her eyes. 

Ben gave her a confused look but went to the trunk to fetch the chair she was talking about. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the wheelchair in the back. He quickly pulled it out of the trunk and carried it over to side of the car. “I’m not sure how this works.” He was slightly embarrassed by his lack of knowledge on how to work this wheelchair and even more embarrassed at the fact he had no idea she was injured. 

“If you just set it down and pull that lever, it will pop out.” Mal explained and pointed to parts of the chair. “Can you set the brake on the sides of the wheels?” Mal was well aware of the eyes on her, but she had no way of escaping until she was in the chair. Mal slid into the chair and took off the brakes. “Thanks,” she muttered and wheeled around to stand in a line with the others. 

“I’m Fairy Godmother, Head Mistress,” Fairy Godmother bowed slightly. She was a bit shell shocked about the newest development. “Ben and Audrey, here, will show you to your dorms, and get your schedules for you.” She told the group. “Actually, the dorms will be a moment.” She thought about it. The dorm rooms selected for the students were not made for a disabled person to live comfortably. “Ben, a word,” She told the boy and gestured him to follow her. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have prepared one of the other rooms for the girls. I’m going to find a room one the first floor near the one for the girls for the boys in case they want to be close to each other.” She glanced back to make sure no one could hear their conversation.

“I assure you, Fairy Godmother, I had no idea. It wasn’t anywhere in her file.” Ben read through each file multiple times. He didn’t want to be unprepared when they arrived. 

“Very well,” Fairy Godmother clasped her hands together. “I’m going to make work of their rooms. I need you to stall for just a few moments.” Ben nodded at her and watched her rush off with the student population falling her. 

Ben walked to the group and started the tour. “Alright, Auradon Prep,” He gestured to the building behind him. Mal watched the group follow Ben and not look back at her. She sighed and began to push the wheels to move forward. She wasn’t focused on what was going on in front of her. She was too busy looking around at everything. She hadn’t realized the steps leading up to the main door until she ran into them. 

“Oomph,” she spluttered. She looked around for a ramp. Once she spotted one on the side of the building, she made her way over and up to the main doors. At her house, she didn’t have to worry about doors. Her mother never shut the ones inside the house and Mal had no reason to open the front door. She couldn’t see Ben or the others outside of the building. She assumed they had already gone inside to finish the tour. “Great,” She muttered to herself and tried to think of the easiest way to open the door and get in. She rolled over to the door and grasped the door knob in her right hand. She thought about throwing the door open and quickly going through the door way, but the thought was ruined when she felt how heavy the door was. 

“Here, let me help you.” A boy in a band uniform offered his assistance. Mal looked at him dumbfounded. She hadn’t had anyone, but her mother, offer her help. 

“Thanks,” She muttered as she went into the building. She tried to search the hallway for any familiar figure, but she took too long trying to get inside. She knew that she shouldn’t expect anyone to understand her predicament fully, especially since she shut everyone out, but it was the reason she decided to keep everyone in the dark. No one would truly understand how much her life had changed. 

“I’m Doug, Dopey’s son,” The boy that helped her in the door introduced himself. He held out his hand to shake. 

Mal looked at it for a moment before taking his hand. “Mal,” She shook his hand.

“I take it you are looking for the others,” Doug had noticed her eyes search around. She nodded and he chuckled. “Ben was never one to be observant.”

“You are telling me,” Mal muttered. “Do you know where my dorm is?” Mal knew it was a long shot but she wanted to get into a room and lie down. 

“Yeah, I was actually sent by Fairy Godmother to give you all the room numbers.” Doug smiled and looked down at the clipboard in his hands. “It’s this way,” Doug smiled and pointed down a hallway to his right. “I think you’ll like it here,” He told her as they walked. 

“I’m sure,” Mal wasn’t sure what to think about this place. The voices were loud and the colors were too bright. 

“It’s not that hard to navigate, but I do have a map for you. The meal times are 8, 12, and 6, but the kitchen is always open for a snack.” He smiled at Mal. He could remember one too many times he went down to the kitchen for a late night snack after curfew. “Oh, and curfew is at 11. Fairy Godmother is a stickler for curfew.” 

“Good to know,” Mal chewed on her lip. She had passed the room for the bathroom and she was wondering how she would shower. She didn’t have time or the space to grab everything she had. “So, is there a shower chair available?” 

“Oh, your room is equipped with on in the shower already. You are in a specialized room.” Doug shrugged.

“Why aren’t you staring and talking about me?” Mal was curious. “I’m the villain in the wheelchair.”

Doug looked at her for a moment. “I have a sister who has spina bifida. She’s confined in a chair.” Everyone knew about Dorothy. She was only six years old, but she had won the hearts of nearly everyone in the kingdom. 

“Oh,” Mal hadn’t thought that there was anyone in Auradon who was just like her. She thought bad things only happened on the Isle. 

“So this will be Evie and yours room.” Doug opened the door for Mal to enter but she couldn’t move. She was going to have to share a room with someone who was a stranger to her now.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben was pointing out everything that hung on the wall. It was as if he knew every inch of the school by heart. “I’m just waiting to see where Doug is to give you the schedules and room assignments.” Ben told the group once he reached the main lobby again. “Um, where is Mal?” Ben searched the small area. He hadn’t looked back the entire time he was giving the tour, but he assumed they would have mentioned if she wasn’t with them. 

“Hard to tell,” Jay shrugged. He wasn’t interested in where Mal was. As far as he was concerned, she was still dead in his mind. “So, where is this Doug guy?” He tried to change the subject. 

“I don’t know.” Ben frowned. “We do need to find her, I would rather her not get lost on her way to the dorms.” He was worried. He had no idea what medical condition she had to require a chair. 

“She’s disappeared for longer.” Evie looked at her nails. Her heart was torn in different directions. She wanted nothing more than to just go ask Mal every question she had the entire time she thought she was dead. She wanted to hug her to make sure she was real. On the other hand, she wanted to be angry. She wanted to hate Mal.

Ben looked at the three. He didn’t know what the cryptic words meant. “Oh, Doug,” He was relieved to see the boy. He could show the way to the dorms and go find the other girl. “Do you mind showing these three to the dorms? I need to find Mal. She seems to have gotten lost.” 

“Oh, she’s not lost. She can’t walk, remember?” Doug was a little annoyed. He knew that it was harder to think about things from a disabled person’s point of view, but he thought Ben had a little more empathy than most. “You didn’t show her the ramp or open the door for her.”

Ben had the decency to look down. He hadn’t thought about what it was like for her. He knew about Dorothy and he loved her, but he didn’t think about the struggle it would be to go through the school. “I didn’t think…” He trailed off. “Do you know where she is? I need to apologize.” 

“She’s in her room. Follow me.” Doug didn’t wait for Ben to answer. He turned around and started in the same direction he came from. “Oh, hello by the way, I’m Doug, Dopey’s son.” Doug turned around and introduced himself while walking backwards. 

“Doug, this is Jay, Carlos, and Evie.” Ben pointed to each one as he said their names. Doug nodded at each one. When he got to Evie, he felt his heart start racing. He had never seen someone so beautiful in his short life. 

“Evil Queen’s daughter,” Evie clarified with a flirtatious smile. She had spent her life flirting with any guy who showed any interest. 

“Hi ho,” Doug muttered under his breath. “Oh, your rooms are just down here.” He cleared his throat and looked down at his clip board. “Jay and Carlos will be sharing a room. Evie, you will be sharing a room with Mal.” He told them. 

“No way. I’m not going to share a room with her.” Evie said defiantly. She didn’t think she could handle sharing a room with Mal. She hardly knew the girl anymore. 

“I’m sorry, no one has a single room.” Ben told her apologetically. He didn’t understand why the three were adamantly against Mal. 

“Doesn’t she need her own room? You know with her condition?” Carlos tried to help Evie. He had watched her break down too many times. He wasn’t sure if she could be put back together again. 

“No, her room is equipped to deal with any problems she may have.” Doug told her. “She is actually there right now.” Doug continued down the hall until he reached the door he was looking for. 

“This is your room, Evie. Jay and Carlos, your room is four down. Fairy Godmother wanted to keep you all close.” Doug was rambling. He had watched Mal get lost into a world of her own when he mentioned her roommate. He had tried to coax information out of her but she clammed up and dismissed him with a slam of the door. 

“Great,” Evie looked at the numbered door and hesitated. She wanted nothing more than to go in and see what everything looked like, but she didn’t want to see Mal. 

“E, why don’t you come help us unpack?” Carlos gave her an out. Evie flashed him a smile and nodded. 

“Sounds good.” She walked closer to them. 

“Go get settled in and meet us down for dinner.” Ben told them. He turned to Audrey and walked back to find Fairy Godmother. 

“You should check on her.” Doug told the three before going his own separate way. He had watched the girl retreat into herself when she thought he was asking too many questions. 

“I’d rather stab out an eye.” Jay said under his breath to his friends. They didn’t need Mal. She made that choice for him. 

“Are you okay, Evie?” Carlos knew the distant look on her face was usually not a good sign. He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled at him gratefully.

“Let’s go get settled,” Evie pulled Carlos’s hand. “Did you hear that?” Evie stopped when she heard a loud noise. 

“Who knows?” Jay shrugged but gave it no second thought. 

Evie chewed on her bottom lip. She would’ve put money on where the noise came from. She wanted to check it out, but she didn’t want to upset Jay. “Actually, do you mind if I unpack my clothes? I don’t want anything to wrinkle from being packed away for a while.” Evie knew it was a lame excuse, but it was a believable one. 

“Sure, come down if you need anything.” Carlos told her. He knew she caught the double meaning behind his words.

Evie walked to her room and closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She slowly turned the door knob and opened the door. She let her eyes wander around the room. She saw a bag on the bed closest to the door and guessed Mal had claimed that bed as her own. She looked at the open door of the bathroom and guessed Mal wasn’t in there. She could see the chair on the other side of the bed, but Mal was nowhere to be found. “Was she just faking it?” Evie wondered aloud. She was growing furious. She didn’t know what else Mal would lie about. 

“No, I’ve just fallen out of my chair.” Mal answered her. 

Evie jumped at the sudden voice. She walked around the bed to see Mal on her stomach. “Why didn’t you say anything when I walked in?” 

Mal tried to think of a good excuse. The truth was that she didn’t want Evie to see her like this. She never even wanted her mother to see her like that. “I wasn’t sure who it was?” It came out like a question. 

“That’s a lie.” Evie crossed her arms. She didn’t offer help. She wanted Mal to ask for help. 

“You’re right,” Mal whispered in defeat. She knew it was pointless to make excuses with Evie. Before everything happened, Evie could read Mal like a book. She pushed herself farther on her elbows. “The carpet has a lovely texture.” She tried to joke to lighten the mood. She didn’t want to ask for help, but she couldn’t think of a way out of it. 

Evie chuckled. “I’m sure it feels just as lovely.” She replied cheekily. She felt the tension disappear from the air with every joke. “I’m going to get unpack and then explore the gardens Ben told us about. I take it this bed is yours?” Evie pointed to the bed closest to where she was laying. 

“Uh, yeah, if you don’t mind.” Evie wasn’t used to the submissive tone in Mal’s voice. She was a ruthless leader on the Isle before the incident. “Do you mind maybe helping me?” Mal looked down. Her elbows were starting to burn from the textured carpet. 

“Yeah,” Evie walked closed to Mal. “What do I do?” Evie chewed her lip. She had no idea where to begin.

“I’ll roll over. Do you think you could lift me onto the bed?” Mal asked. She had fallen multiple times when she first learned how to use the wheelchair. Her mother had been patient with her, which was a shock for anyone who knew Maleficent. 

“How did you end up on the floor anyway?” Evie waited for Mal to pull her legs over to lie on her back. 

“I forgot to set the brakes on the chair.” Mal was ashamed she had forgotten. It was a rookie mistake, but she had been too worried about trying to get into the bed. Her arms hurt from the amount of wheeling she had to do in one day. “My arms gave out on me and I guess I just tumbled. It used to happen a good bit when I first starting using the chair. Mother used to pick me up off the floor multiple times a day.” Mal tried to laugh but it sounded more of a choking noise. 

“Are you hurt?” Evie tried to mask the hurt in her voice. She would have been there for Mal, but she didn’t even know she was alive.

“No, I couldn’t even feel half of the fall.” Mal’s humor had always been a bit on the dark side, but she had become more morbid by the day. Evie looked a bit uncomfortable after Mal’s joke and Mal immediately felt bad. “I’m sorry. I get carried away with the jokes. Do you think you could life me now?” She decided to change the subject back to getting her off the ground. 

“Yeah, just under your knees and back?” Evie asked before touching the girl. She honestly had no idea if this would injury Mal anymore. 

“Yeah,” Mal waited patiently while Evie lifted her off the ground. “Thank you.” She was grateful for Evie at that moment. 

“You’re welcome,” Evie nodded her head at Mal and walked over to her side of the room. She began to unload her clothes into the closet and lined up her shoes on the floor. Once she was done with her clothes, she walked to the bathroom and lined her beauty products on the counter in order of use. After she was satisfied with her handy work, she walked out of the room. “Okay, well, I’ll see you around.” Evie waved to Mal and walked out of the door. 

“Yeah, okay,” Mal told the closed door. She scooted down the bed to lie down. At least there was a new ceiling for her to look at.


	4. Chapter 4

Mal felt her stomach grumble and wished to be back at her house on the Isle. Her mother made sure she never went without food. She had more than once forced Mal to eat when she was on a hunger strike. Mal couldn’t reach her chair. When she fell, she pushed the chair farther away from the bed and she couldn’t reach it. She glanced back at the ceiling again. She had already counted all of the panels around the room. It was too bright for her to sleep like she used to. 

“Look at me carrying out your plan, mother.” Mal thought bitterly. She knew there was no way she could get the wand, not in her condition. Realistically, she knew her mother would never harm her, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have a few choice words with her. 

Mal snapped her head to the door when she heard a knock. “I’m not sure if the door is open or not.” She called from her spot on the bed. She wasn’t sure if Evie had locked the door or not. She could hear the doorknob twist and turn back and forth, but the door didn’t open. 

“It must be locked. Do you think you could open it?” Mal recognized Ben’s voice through the door. She rolled her eyes at his request.

“Yes, let me just walk to the door and open it.” Mal said it like it was the obvious plan.

“Thanks,” Ben said through the door. 

“I can’t walk, Ben.” Mal said through gritted teeth. She hated that she had to keep reminding everyone that she couldn’t use her lower body.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think.” Ben was rambling an apology. Of course he didn’t think, no one ever did when it came to being different. 

“What do you want, Ben?” Mal was getting annoyed by the encounter. She just wanted to be anywhere but there. 

“I’ll go find Evie to get the key.” Ben told her, ignoring her question. 

Mal listened to the retreating footsteps. She found herself wishing for sleep again. She was just beginning to doze off when the lock on the door turned. 

“Hey, are you going to eat?” Ben asked as he walked through the door. Mal rolled her head to the other side of the pillows. She didn’t have time to answer before her stomach growled. “Let’s go get you some food.” Ben chuckled slightly before he rubbed the back of his neck. It was a nervous tick he had. “Do you need help getting up?” He didn’t know what the next step was. 

Mal saw no point in denying she wasn’t hungry. “Could you maybe get my chair? I just need it slightly angled with the bed so I can slide into it.” She guided Ben’s movements. “Thank you,” She tried to get into a sitting position, but her arms were still overstrained from earlier. “Actually, I’m just going to stay here. This bed is too comfy.” She tried to lie her way out of it. She didn’t want to tell Ben that she just wasn’t strong enough. 

“Nonsense, here, I can help you.” Ben waved her off. Mal tried to protest, but she was going unnoticed as Ben carefully lifted her off the bed and settled her in the chair. “There you go,” Ben smiled her and clapped his hands together. “Well, let’s go, shall we?” 

“Lead the way,” Mal grumbled. She was not one to follow in a line behind someone, but she had no idea where the dinner was served. “I didn’t actually get a tour earlier.” 

Ben looked down in shame for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.” 

“Yeah, it seems like you don’t do that often.” Mal shot back. It wasn’t meant to be extremely cruel. It was an observation more than anything. “Most people don’t know how to accommodate me.” She tried to make him feel a bit better. She had no idea what most people would do in her presence. 

“I’ll do better.” Ben promised her. “It’s pasta night tonight.” He told her. He was determined to make things easier for her. 

“Pasta?” Mal had heard of pasta on the Isle, but she never exactly knew what it was.

“You don’t know what pasta is?” Ben was shocked. Mal looked over and nodded at him. “Just wait, you are in for something.” Ben didn’t know exactly how to explain it to someone. “Would you like that tour after dinner?” He offered. 

“No, I actually don’t think I could wheel myself around for much longer. This place is huge.” Mal felt calmer around Ben with every second that had passed. She no longer was annoyed by his presence. She thought it was quite nice to have someone around again. 

“Would you like to me to push you?” Ben offered. Mal chewed her lip. It sounded nice to have a little help but she didn’t want to owe anyone something. Mal shook her head against the idea but shook out her arm. “Here, let me take over.” Ben wasn’t annoyed to help. He actually wanted a reason to make things right for her again. 

“Thanks,” Mal put her hands in her lap and fiddled with her thumbs. She looked at the walls and the ceiling of the space around her. “What time do classes start tomorrow?” She needed to figure out how long she needed to get ready in the morning. 

“The first class begins at 9.” Ben informed her. He was happy to be useful to the girl. He let his mind wonder about the circumstances that led to her condition.

“You’re wondering what happened,” Mal could practically hear the clogs moving in his brain. 

“Oh, no, I was just…” Ben couldn’t think of a lie quick enough. 

“It’s okay, I would wonder if the roles were reversed.” Mal was surprised she wasn’t mad. She was a bit disappointed, but not mad. 

“No, I was just thinking…” Ben still tried to think of something. He didn’t want to come off as insensitive, but his curiosity was killing him. “I was, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” Mal told him again. She didn’t want to say anything about the night. “I used to be able to walk.” She offered him a little bit of information. She wasn’t going to give details.

“Oh,” Ben didn’t know what to say. He had a hunch that she wasn’t born this way. He had read her file and, as outdated as it was, it didn’t give any indication of her not being fully abled. He didn’t want to pry and by the silence she offered him, he knew she wasn’t going to give anything else up. “It’s just right in here,” He was thankful when the doors to the dining hall opened. “Would you like to sit with us?” He offered his table. “Or I think I see your friends.” Ben had spotted Evie, Jay, and Carlos in the corner of the room.

“I don’t have friends. Could I just sit over there?” Mal pointed to an empty table close to the door. 

Ben didn’t want to leave her alone, but he didn’t know how else to convince her. “Okay, the line is right here,” Ben pointed to the serving line. “I guess I’ll see you around.” Mal nodded and steered her way to the line. 

“Watch where you are going, freak.” Mal had accidentally rolled over someone’s foot. “Already trying to cause pain on us?” Mal debated on continuing passed. She sighed and turned around finally. “What you can’t speak either? So a cripple who can’t talk? What good are you?” Mal sized up the boy in front of her. His blond hair had too much gel in it and his powder blue shirt didn’t flatter him at all. 

“Chad, leave it.” Ben had watched the whole thing unfold. He had wanted to intervene the second Chad had called names but Audrey had held his arm to stop him. Once he heard Chad’s derogatory remarks about Mal, he shook Audrey’s hand off his arm and walked over to them.

“What Ben? You are just going to let her attack me with her chair?” Chad didn’t give up. He didn’t see how having villains in Auradon would be any good. He could name a thousand reasons that things could go wrong. 

“She didn’t attack you.” Ben rolled his eyes at Chad’s dramatics. He had grown up with Chad and he still was astounded by the things that came out of his mouth. “She accidentally ran over your foot.”

“She didn’t even apologize.” Chad still tried to argue his point. 

“You didn’t give her a chance. You bombarded her with your anger.” Ben wanted to growl in frustration. 

“Whatever. Choose the villains over the ones you grew up with,” Chad flicked his hand at Ben. “I’m going,” He didn’t give Ben a chance to respond before he stomped away. 

“I’m sorry about that,” Ben looked behind him to apologize to Mal, but she wasn’t there anymore. “Great,” he muttered and walked back to his table. He flopped down on his chair and rested his head in his hands. 

“…right, Benny boo?” Ben looked up at his girlfriend. He had completely missed her question and his confusion was written all over his face. 

“I’m sorry, Audrey, could you repeat what you said?” Ben asked in a monotone voice. Audrey huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms over her chest. He didn’t have the energy to argue with her anymore. He let his eyes wander around the room. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking for the newest students at the school. He noticed Evie’s blue hair first and took in the faces of Jay and Carlos, but he didn’t see Mal anywhere in sight. He was determined to figure out what happened between the four .


	5. Chapter 5

Mal rolled back towards the dorms. She didn’t want to be bothered by anyone for the rest of the night. Part of her had hoped Evie would check on her, but she knew better than to get her hopes up. Her friendships were far out of reach. She stopped pushing herself once her arms protested in anger. She was going to have serious problems getting around the campus. “Great,” She mumbled to herself as she rubbed her arms. 

“Are you okay?” Mal heard a voice from behind her. She moved her head to the sound of the voice but she didn’t move her chair. 

“I’m fine,” Mal grumbled. She still didn’t want to be bothered. 

“You don’t look fine.” Doug came from behind her chair. “Would you like a hand?” He knew better than to touch her chair without permission. 

“I’m fine.” Mal persisted. She wasn’t going show any signs of weakness. 

Doug knew that Mal was just trying to put on a brave face. “I am actually going back to the dorms myself and your room is right before mine. How about I walk with you?” He offered. Once Mal nodded, he gripped the handles on the back of her chair. 

Mal collapsed into the chair. She didn’t want to admit it out loud but she was so grateful Doug didn’t take her answer. “Why aren’t you at dinner?” She decided to make conversation. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife and she didn’t want to lose her only ally in the world. 

“I already went. I tend to eat quickly.” Doug shrugged as though it was an everyday question. He didn’t want to tell her that family gatherings were the real reason behind his speed eating. His cousins thought that it was best to pick on him because of his father, Dopey. He had to live in constant mockery just because his father was a little different from the rest. It didn’t help the matter that he was the tallest of his family. “I could ask you the same question.” He countered back at Mal. 

“Prissy princesses and petty princes aren’t really my scene.” Mal didn’t want to retell what happened in the cafeteria. She just wanted to go back to her room and move on with her life. 

Doug chuckled at her statement. He knew what she meant. The royalty of Auradon tended to be on the spoiled side. “I’m surprised Ben fed you to the sharks so early.” He thought aloud. He didn’t think that Ben would have just let her wander around on her own. 

“I told him that I was fine alone.” Mal didn’t want to lie to Doug. “I didn’t need a babysitter.” She said a little more defensively than she intended. She sighed and ran a hand through her purple locks. “I just want to prove that I’m not completely useless.” She found herself being vulnerable around her new friend. She hadn’t spoken to anyone except her mother and the occasional lackey in nearly two years. 

“What about your friends?” Doug wasn’t as clueless as he let on. He knew that the four were far from friends, but it was bothering him that he didn’t know the truth behind it. 

“They aren’t my friends.” Mal felt her heart break when she spoke that statement. She didn’t want to talk about the failed friendships that were all her fault. Sure, she had done everything for the others’ safety, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Doug offered. He knew the answer already, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to offer a shoulder. 

“No,” Mal’s tone was dismissive. She slumped further into the chair and leaned her head to look at him. “Where are we going?” Mal hadn’t noticed before but they had walked passed her dorm. 

“I figured you could use more time to talk,” Doug smiled reassuringly at her. He didn’t want her to close herself off completely. He had seen the hopeful gaze Mal gave to the other kids from the Isle. He had heard her hopelessness when she said the status of her friendships. 

“Thanks,” Mal didn’t know why she felt safe around Doug. He had nothing that would warrant survival on the Isle. He wasn’t strong, sneaky, or witty. He was kind. 

“No problem.” Doug smiled again. “How about we get you to your dorm finally? You look like you could fall asleep right now.” He joked with her but he could see her eyes fighting to stay open. 

“You could say that.” Mal smiled along with him. “Tell me about your sister.” She requested. She was truly curious how another girl in Auradon handled being in a chair. 

“She’s amazing. She’s six and she already has the wisdom of someone much older than her. She hates to be treated differently and sometimes even I forget that she is different. She’s obsessed with drawing.” Doug began. There were never enough words to describe his sister.

“Art?” Mal was baffled. 

“Yeah, just drawing really, she’s going to be the next Van Gogh.” Doug was proud of his sister and maybe just a tad bit biased. 

“I used to draw all the time. Well it was mainly with spray paint, but I loved it before…” Mal trailed off. She didn’t want to think about her old life. It was pointless to dwell on the things she could no longer do. 

“Before…” Doug prompted. 

“Nothing, I don’t want to talk about it.” Mal’s wasn’t going to go back on her promise to herself. She didn’t want anyone to know what happened to her. 

“Do you need help in?” Doug knew better than to push Mal. He stopped in front of her door and turned her to face him. She shook her head and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, well, I’ll see you around.” He waved his goodbye and headed to his dorm. 

Mal sighed. She wasn’t sure how long Doug walked her around, but she didn’t know if she wanted Evie to be back in the room or not. She put her hand on the door knob to check if it was locked. She felt nerves boil inside of her when the knob turned easily. She slowly rolled herself in as quietly as she could be. 

“What are you doing?” Mal closed her eyes when she realized she had been caught. She noticed that Evie’s voice didn’t hold any malice. She was just simply curious.

“I’m just going to bed?” It came out like a question. Mal wasn’t sure if she should talk about the budding friendship she had with someone. She didn’t know where she stood with Evie and she didn’t want to ruin any chances of being friends again.

“It’s seven?” Evie countered and pointed at the alarm clock on the stand. “Why didn’t you eat lunch?” She had seen Mal’s encounter with Chad. She wanted to see if Mal would tell her the whole story or if she would lie and brush it off. 

“Oh, bad encounter with one of the entitled princes.” Mal shrugged it off. She didn’t want to bother Evie with the details. It was her burden and she didn’t want to ruin this experience for Evie. 

“Oh, okay.” Evie turned back to the book she had in her hands. She was slightly disappointed in Mal, but she wasn’t surprised. She hadn’t known who Mal was for almost two years. 

“I’m just going to lie down. I am really tired.” Mal emphasized her point by yawning. She rolled over to the bed and used every ounce of energy she had to hoist herself on the bed. She realized a second too late that she had forgotten to remove her shoes before she got into the bed. 

“Are you really going to leave your shoes on the bed?” Evie was slightly disgusted. She had been raised her whole life about proper etiquette. 

“Yeah, I can’t reach them really well and I wasn’t kidding when I said I was tired. This campus is far too big for anyone.” Mal chewed on her bottom lip. She was trying to be a bit more open with Evie, but she hated to admit she needed help. 

“Here, I’ll help,” Evie got up from the chair and walked over to Mal. She loosened the laces on Mal’s boots and tugged them off. She walked over to her bed and sat on it. 

“Thank you, E,” Mal tried the familiar nickname but she was met with a glare. “Sorry.” She muttered and turned her gaze to the blanket. “I’m really sorry about everything.” 

“I’ve got to go.” Evie said suddenly. She didn’t want to deal with the hurt that was bubbling inside of her. She swiftly walked to the door and ripped it open. “Look we can talk about everything just not right now.” 

Mal felt a little bit of hope flow through her body. Maybe she did have a chance to reconcile with her friends.


	6. Chapter 6

“Evie, have you seen Mal?” Ben caught the blue haired girl on her way to lunch. Ben hadn’t seen Mal in a couple of days and he was starting to get worried. He wasn’t sure if she was avoiding him or if she was just busy, but with it being only her first week in Auradon, he highly doubted she was too busy. 

Evie shrugged her shoulders. After she promised Mal they could talk later, she tried avoiding her. She woke up an hour before Mal’s alarm went off and made sure she was either asleep by the time Mal came in or made sure Mal was asleep. “Honestly, I haven’t talked to her in a couple of days. I’ve been in my own world, adjusting and all.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She had been trying to adjust, but she had the help of Jay and Carlos. 

“Oh, okay,” Ben was a bit skeptical. He had caught up with Jay and Carlos earlier in the day and his question was met with backlash from Jay. He didn’t understand what the three of the Isle kids had against Mal, but he didn’t want any reason for someone to be exiled. “Has she been in the dorms?” He tried to pry.

“Probably,” Evie shrugged but she didn’t give up any information. She started to examine her nails in a vain attempt to look bored. She didn’t want to have this conversation now. She didn’t want to have this conversation ever. She looked over her nails and noticed Jay and Carlos walking down the corridor. “Oh, hey guys!” She welcomed the distraction.

Ben looked down in frustration. “Hey,” he mumbled out. “I’m going to go find Mal,” He didn’t mean to be rude to his company, but he was completely irritated. 

“Good luck with that,” Jay scoffed. He didn’t know why Ben asked about Mal every time he saw the three best friends. 

“What is your problem with her?” Ben was surprised he didn’t snap at Jay. He had used every ounce of self-control he had in him to hold back his frustration.

Jay looked shocked at the question. He could feel his anger bubbling inside of him. “Our problem?” He asked in disgust. It wasn’t their problem, it was hers. He was tired of the way this prince assumed things about their lives. “It’s all on her. Why don’t you ask her?” He scoffed after Ben nodded his head. “Come on guys, let’s go.” He gestured to the right with his head and swiftly turned to march out of the hallway with Carlos and Evie flanking his sides. 

Ben rolled his eyes at the dramatic exit. The three of them could definitely give Audrey a run for her money. He chuckled at the joke he told himself. He sighed and decided that checking her dorm one more time before getting Fairy Godmother involved would be the best thing. He remembered that he hadn’t said anything to her about her classes, but he reasoned that he would mention not seeing her after today.

He walked to the dorms and began to wonder down the halls. It was nearly empty with it being lunch time, but he still walked with his head held high. His brain was ingrained to think about the possibility of someone watching his every move. 

He smiled to himself once he reached her door. He raised his right hand to the door, ready to knock, when he heard a small whimper from the other side. “Mal,” His voice was no more than a whisper and he was sure that the girl hadn’t heard him. He felt his face flush with worry and he wasted no more time trying the handle. He didn’t want to startle her, but he had to make sure she was okay. “Mal,” He said a little louder when the door opened to his relief. “I haven’t seen you in a couple of days and I was starting to grow worried that you were avoiding me.” He tried to joke with a smile on his face. Once he saw her face scrunched in pain, he dropped his smile and hurried over to her. “Mal, what’s wrong?” He looked over what he could see of her body for any visible injuries. 

Mal’s eyes were unfocused and glassy. She could hear something other than her groans and whimpers, but it sounded hazy. She hadn’t had a phantom pain in a while and she had forgotten slightly how bad it was. She could’ve sworn the knife was still in her back on moments like these. 

“Mal, come on,” Ben tried to coax her. He was scared by the way she was acting but he was trying his hardest not to show his fears. “Mal, what is wrong?” He tried again. 

Mal grunted out in pain but otherwise stayed silent. She couldn’t focus on the sound of the voice next to her. She just wanted the pain to stop or at least dull a little. 

“Do you want me to get Evie?” Ben was getting desperate. He felt so helpless and it was a foreign feeling for him. He spent his entire life learning the answers to all of the kingdom’s problems. He didn’t know how to handle a problem that he didn’t know. 

Mal made out the last word Ben spoke in her haze. She felt her heart start to race and her breathing become erratic. She didn’t want anyone to know about this, especially Evie. She had kept her pain from the blue haired girl for almost two days now and she didn’t want her to know now. 

“Come on, Mal, you are starting to scare me.” Ben finally admitted to her. He grabbed Mal’s left hand and placed it over his chest when he noticed her gasping. “Just follow my breaths,” he guided her gently. He knew his heart was starting to speed up in fear but he was breathing evenly. “That’s it, keep going.” He praised when he noticed her breathing evening out. He noticed the haze lift slightly from her eyes and he smiled at her. “There you are,” He couldn’t help but look over her face in adoration. He didn’t mean to choose that time to admire her, but he honestly couldn’t help it. 

Ben’s eyes snapped over to the door the second he heard it the knob twist. He could practically feel the anxiety radiating of Mal beside him. He turned his body back to focus on her and dared to reach a hand up to her face. “Hey, I’m sure it’s just Evie,” He tried to reassure, but it seemed to just make her worse. He turned back to the door and watched Evie walk in defeated. 

“Worst day ever,” Evie muttered the second she was through the doorway. She had lost her balance walking down the stairs and tripped down the last three, tumbling down. She managed to drop all of her books and her papers onto the ground. She honestly thought that people were much more sympathetic in Auradon, but when no one stopped to help her and stepped on one of her designs. 

“Oh, hey,” Evie smoothed out her dress and smiled awkwardly at Ben. She hadn’t seen him when she walked in and she was silently hoping Mal was gone too.

“Hey,” Ben flitted his eyes back to the girl on the bed beside him. He didn’t want to ask Evie to leave, but he didn’t want Mal to have another panic attack after just getting her calmed down.

“I’m just going to…” Evie trailed off when her eyes finally landed on Mal. Her eyebrows knitted in concern for a second before she smoothed out her face to indifference. “Is she okay?” She asked while she took a second to inspect her nails. She didn’t want concern to seep onto her face again, but she honestly couldn’t help it. She had never seen Mal show anything but pure strength on the Isle and she wasn’t sure how to take this new Mal. 

“Yeah, I think she just needs a minute.” Ben watched as Mal’s eyes glossed over again in what he assumed were pain. 

Evie nodded her head and shifted on her feet awkwardly. “Okay, great.”

“Actually, I have no idea what to do to help her. I don’t know what’s wrong and she seems like she’s in pain.” Ben finally admitted. He honestly didn’t know what was happening. He had no knowledge of medical needs of a paraplegic. He watched as Evie racked her brain. 

“Phantom pain!” Evie shouted. She winced at how loud her voice was. She cleared her throat and tried again. “It’s probably phantom pains.” She wasn’t going to tell anyone about her research when she first came to Auradon. She had searched about possible issues that could happen to Mal just in case she was the only one around. Or at least, that’s what she told herself. 

“What is that?” Ben was at a loss. “And how do we help?” 

“Well it’s not exactly called phantom pain, but it’s similar. She is having pain at the injury sight.” Evie walked to the night stand beside Mal’s bed. She was sure she had some pain medication somewhere. “I’m trying to find some Tylenol.” She smirked to herself when she found the bottle of medicine across the room. 

“How long does this usually last?” Ben asked after he handed Mal the pills. He helped her sit up and handed her a cup of water that Evie handed him. 

“It could last minutes to days. It just depends.” Evie shrugged. “But for now, we just have to wait it out.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Can I ask you something?” Ben broke the awkward silence. Curiosity was killing him and he knew he needed answers if he wanted his program to work out in the end. 

“As long as it isn’t about Mal, then fire away,” Evie could read him like a book. She knew that he wanted to know about Mal’s history with the other three, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of an easy answer.

“Oh,” Ben looked down at his hands. He could feel the disappointment written on his face while he scrambled to think of another question. “How are you?” He asked lamely. He moved his eyes back to Evie’s face and shrugged his shoulders. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t necessarily care about how she was doing in that moment. His main concern was the girl still whimpering in the bed. 

“Is that the best you can come up with?” Evie raised an eyebrow. She smiled to let him know that she was joking. “I’m taking you don’t actually care how I am.” 

Ben looked sheepishly at her and shrugged again. “Is it that obvious?” 

“I read people really well. It’s a gift, I suppose.” Evie flicked her hair over her shoulder. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, debating on what version of the truth she wanted to give him. “It was rough on the Isle.” She sighed out. “I’m not sure what Mal has told you and even if we aren’t friends anymore, we were once. I can’t betray someone like that, I’m sorry.” She knew it was an easy out, but she didn’t want to expose secrets of the Isle.

“That’s the problem, no one will tell me anything.” Ben tried to keep his anger at bay, but he couldn’t help the frustration from seeping into his voice. He wasn’t used to hearing the word no and he didn’t like it. He got up from his spot on the floor by Mal’s bed and started pacing in between the beds. “Everyone tells me that they don’t want to talk about it or they just ignore the question completely. I need this to work and it won’t if I don’t know what is going on.” 

“Ben, you don’t understand the way the Isle works.” Evie felt sorry for the prince in front of her. She could see the worry etched on his face and she wondered if he had always worn that expression. She could practically feel the extra weight on his shoulders. 

“Then explain it to me. Give me something to go off of,” Ben was begging for information desperately but he didn’t care. 

Evie took pity on Ben and patted the space beside her on the bed. “Sit down.” She waited for a second for him to comply. “The Isle isn’t the best place on Earth for anyone.” Evie said slowly. She didn’t know where to begin with the differences between there and Auradon. “I don’t even know where to begin.” Evie laughed to herself. “To survive on the Isle, you need to have a complete different set of skills. The amount of food here is plentiful. You have never once had to worry about when you get to eat the next meal or if the food was even going to be edible. The Isle is filled to the brim with villains, their sidekicks, and their children. You can imagine the mayhem, can’t you?” 

“How can it be that bad?” Ben was talking to himself more so than to Evie. “There are scheduled deliveries every week for the Isle. My father sends over more than enough food and supplies for the week. I’ve seen the documents. There are workers who specifically deal with the shipments.” He kept rambling. He couldn’t wrap his mind around everything he thought was true. Sure, he had noticed the bones protruding on the kids from the Isle. He had noticed the jumpy eyes and the defensive attitudes but he didn’t want to listen to his gut. 

“Ben, shipments only come in once a month.” Evie said slowly. She knew what it was like to have the truth come crumbling down. “It’s a free for all once the ship comes in and yes, it is only one ship. The food is normally spoiled and anything else usually looks like a thrown away item. I’m not telling you this to upset you. I’m just trying to get you to understand the differences in your life and mine.” Evie took a breath and glanced over at the huddle under the blankets. She wasn’t sure if Mal had fallen asleep once the whimpering had stopped or if she was listening to the conversation. “Our parents, well they weren’t necessarily the best role models for us. I can’t tell you about any of the others. Their stories are not mine to tell you. I can only tell you about mine, which, no offense, I’m not exactly biting at the heels to tell you.” Evie was hoping she could finally get Ben to stop asking so many questions. She knew that Jay was starting to get agitated by the questions and the “babying” of Mal. 

“I just don’t understand.” Ben was at a loss for words. His mind was running a mile a minute with everything he was just told, but he still felt like he knew even less. His eyes floated between Evie next to him and Mal across the room from him. He had been so sheltered in his life and he had no idea the full extent of it. “How can you not hate us?” He asked as his eyes finally settled on Evie’s face.

“Who says we don’t hate you?” Evie wasn’t exactly sure what the three of them thought about the Auradon kids. She wasn’t sure if it was everything knew and the adjustments they each had to make or the ambush of the knowledge about their former friend, but they hadn’t thought about the feelings for the Auradon kids. “I honestly haven’t given anyone more than a fleeting thought about. It’s been quite the adjustment for me and I don’t really care about anyone but myself.” Evie tried to keep her voice even. She didn’t want to give away anything that she thought about. While she wouldn’t admit it, she was constantly looking over her shoulder for threats. 

“I just need this to work out.” Ben repeated himself. He knew it was selfish to put his needs in front of Evie, but he couldn’t help it. Everything he thought he knew about the Isle had turned out to be a lie. “Are you expecting someone?” His eyebrows furrowed at the sound of the knock.   
Evie shook her head, her face just as confused. “No, it’s not like I have friends here other than Jay and Carlos and they wouldn’t come here with…” Her eyes moved to Mal’s body. 

“Are you going to get it?” Ben was relieved that the tension from the conversation before was gone. “Okay, I guess I’ll get it?” He asked when Evie shook her head. He didn’t wait for an answer before he walked over to the door. “Hi?” He questioned when he opened the door to Doug standing on the other side.

“Hey, Ben, I was just coming to check on Mal,” Doug was a little confused to see Ben in the room. The last he talked to Mal, she wasn’t the biggest Ben fan. 

“She seemed to be in pain earlier, but I think she’s asleep.” Ben looked over to Mal’s bed. 

“Oh,” Doug’s face morphed into concern, “Did you try to stretch her?” He knew that Mal’s condition and Dorothy’s condition were completely different, but he did a little bit of research on ways to help. 

“No,” Ben turned to look at Evie. She wore a slightly shamed expression on her face. He wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t know about it or because he didn’t. 

“I did some research on spine injuries. She must have suffered something with being able to walk in the past. I don’t know the extent of anything, but I tried to research everything I could.” Doug began to ramble. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing and he wanted to explain himself so he didn’t seem like an obsessed stalker.

“I didn’t know…” Evie trailed off. She couldn’t help the fear creeping into her features. “What if we made it worse by just waiting it out? What if…what if…” She started to hyperventilate. It was always expected of her to be perfect and to have all the answers. Her mother expected nothing less at any time. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Doug’s voice was soothing. “You didn’t know. It’s a complex thing.” He wanted to reassure Evie that she wasn’t at fault. He didn’t know the whole situation, but he knew it was counterproductive to pass the blame. 

Evie was too far gone into her panic attack to hear the reassuring words from Doug. “It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.” She kept repeating and rocking back and forth. 

Ben and Doug shared a look before they both got onto their knees in front of her. They had no idea what she was talking about but they had hoped it would resolve itself soon.


	8. Chapter 8

“Evie, can you breathe for me?” Doug tried to calm down the blue haired girl. He had witnessed a panic attack before, but it was usually him doing the panicking. “Here, follow my heart.” He gently pried her hand off from around her knees and placed it over the left side of his chest. He smiled at her when he noticed her gasps had lessened. “There you go, princess,” He looked over to Ben with a sense of accomplishment in his face. “Can you focus on me now?” He knew that the hard part was bringing Evie back to reality slowly. He didn’t want to scare her and force her into a more severe attack.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked the second Evie’s eyes had focused on Doug’s face in front of her. 

Evie flicked her gaze between the boys and bit her lip in hopes to keep the tears at bay. “Yeah,” Her voice was hoarse from the gasping and whimpering, but neither one commented on it. Her eyes moved on their own accord to Mal’s form under the covers. She could feel the weight of a seemingly innocent mistake on her chest. “Is she going to be okay?” It was the only thing she cared about. 

“Mal’s going to be fine, Evie, the more important question is, are you going to be okay?” Doug kept her hand on his chest. He didn’t want to admit it out loud, but he was enjoying the closeness of the princess. He would’ve been a fool if he didn’t realize how beautiful she was. She was mysterious to him and while he didn’t think the way she was treating Mal was fair, he would admit that there was more to the story than any of them had said. 

“Uh, yeah,” Evie said awkwardly. She pulled back her hand when she had realized that it was still touching Doug. “What are you doing here? Was it really just to check on her?” She wasn’t rude about it, she was just genuinely curious. Sure he had said that he was coming to check on Mal, but she didn’t think that was the whole truth. 

“Oh, uh…” Doug trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He did have an alternative motive when he came, but he could see that it wasn’t going to happen now. “Yes?” It was more of a question than an answer and he cringed at the way his voice cracked.

“Doug,” Ben decided it was his turn to try and get information out of the other boy. He wasn’t sure how to get information out of the Isle kids, but he knew how to get information out of the kids from Auradon. “What’s the real reason?” 

Doug sighed and bowed his head forward. He knew that the more Ben prodded, the more he would spill and while Ben hadn’t tried very hard yet, he knew it was going to come out eventually. “Dorothy wanted to meet someone like her. She called earlier today and asked me about the new kids. I told her what I had observed about them and about the disability Mal faced.” He looked down at the carpet. He wasn’t sure how angry everyone would be when they found out about the call.

Ben could see the way Doug’s eyes down casted that he was ashamed, but he wasn’t sure what was truly wrong. “Doug, what’s wrong with that?” He paid no mind to Evie on the bed and solely focused on the boy in front of him.

“Ben, it’s not my story to tell.” Doug said simply. He knew that he might have stepped over the line with sharing information with his sister, but he never had to hide anything from her. 

“I’m getting really tired of hearing that.” Ben said to himself. 

Evie started to fume from her spot. “Are you serious right now?” She had tried to keep her cool when she explained to Ben about the Isle. She had tried to be understanding that Auradon was probably raised on complete honesty, but she couldn’t any longer. “This isn’t about you Ben. You don’t know what it’s like on the Isle. You have no idea the things we had to deal with. You are being selfish and complaining because you don’t get your way. People have secrets, Ben. The only way you survive on the Isle is with allies and you don’t get them by blabbing the secrets to the world. What happens when your experiment goes south and suddenly we find ourselves back on the Isle? We need to be able to trust each other and we can’t do that if you are forcing us to inform you of things.” She inhaled, ready to continue to lecture him when she was cut off.

“She’s right, Ben, just drop it,” Mal’s voice was quiet, but not unclear. 

“Are you okay?” Doug asked before Ben could defend himself. He had known Ben nearly his entire life and he knew how the prince’s mind worked. 

“Just some spasms,” Mal tried to shrug off her discomfort. She tried her hardest to stay quiet and still while the other three talked, but she couldn’t take the pain in Evie’s voice. She knew that disappearing the way she had, had caused problems and hurt for her friends, but she vowed to not make it hurt more for them. “They will pass eventually.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to reassure the others in the room or herself. 

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Ben gave up trying to get information and dropped the subject. He was still agitated about things not going his way, but the purple haired girl still his priority. He had slightly forgotten his true motive in going to her room. He let his anger take over his worry about Mal. 

Mal chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t want to ask for help, but she didn’t want to continue to be in pain. 

Ben could see her discomfort and racked his brain for ways to help. “Do you think stretching out would help?” He remembered Doug’s thought about the stretching to help with the pain for Mal. 

Mal knew that stretching was the most helpful thing that could happen, but her mother was the only one who knew the techniques that worked well. “Yeah, but it’s okay.” She didn’t want to burden anyone. She had already taken up a good portion of their day and she just wanted to be left alone. She didn’t want to deal with the concerned looks from the boys and the disinterested look from Evie. “I’ll be fine, you all may leave.” She tried to sound indifferent, but her voice still cracked with pain. While her spasms had no stopped, she was beginning to ignore the pain. 

“I looked up some techniques. I’m sure you don’t want these two touching you, but I could try.” Evie surprised everyone by offering. She had searched some different ways to safely stretch out the pain on her phone while the others were talking to Mal. 

Mal looked wide eyed in Evie’s direction. She wasn’t prepared to hear Evie directly talk to her. Sure, Evie had been more open to talking to her in short conversations about nothing, but this was a different. Evie was offering help to her willingly. “No, I don’t…”

“Look, you are in pain. Let me help.” Evie cut her off and stood up from the bed and walked the short distance from her bed to Mal’s. “Please,” She wanted to help. The guilty feeling was taking over her senses again. She thought she pushed it away when she refused to let herself think about the accident. She thought keeping herself busy with life and designs would help her forget about everything and it did for a while until she saw Mal again. 

“Sure,” Mal finally relented and turned her head to look at the ceiling. 

“You boys can leave, I’ll see you around.” Evie told the boys before turning back to Mal. She was a little nervous about being alone with her old best friend, but she thought she might be able to finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been really inconsistent with updating. It's been hectic. The next chapter will deal mainly with Evie's recount of everything. Let me know what you think of this!


	9. Chapter 9

Evie gently lifted Mal’s leg and maneuvered it the way the internet picture had showed. “Is this okay?” She wasn’t sure the proper technique and she didn’t want to hurt Mal especially when she had made a mistake to let her rest instead of stretching earlier. 

“Yeah,” Mal grunted. She knew that the pain would lessen in time, but she had been in pain for so long that she just wanted it to be over. “Thank you,” She whispered just loud enough for Evie to hear. There were so many things absolutely wrong with the situation she was in, but at the moment, she was so grateful for the mercy from Evie. 

“Yeah,” Evie wasn’t sure how to answer. She was far from forgiving Mal, but it wasn’t completely uncomfortable to have a complete conversation about nothing in particular with her. “So, uh, how are you?” She cringed at the question. It was generic, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to dive into a deep conversation.

“I’ve been better.” Mal winced when the muscles twitched again. The pain was lessening by each second of the stretches and she had never been more grateful. “Uh, what about you?” She offered up lamely. She chewed her bottom lip as she fought her brain on asking Evie the real question she wanted to know. 

“I’m well.” Evie switched legs and began to move the other one to provide relief. She let the silence settle in the room and focused solely on the task. After five more minutes, she let Mal’s leg gently fall back on the bed. “Are the spasms gone?” She asked when she lost all of her nerve to ask any of the questions that burned her mind. 

“Yeah, I really appreciate it.” Mal spoke softly. Her pain was significantly better and her body began to relax into the bed. 

“Well, good, I need to…” Evie trailed off and pointed to the door. She thought that she was okay having a conversation with Mal and while it was easy to have a meaningless conversation, it was hard to think about anything but the betrayal in the silence. She started to walk to the door and had her hand on the doorknob when she was caught off guard by Mal’s voice.

“E, wait,” Mal knew that she was pressing her luck, but she needed to get things off of her chest. She waited until Evie turned back to face her before she started talking again. “Can I please explain?” She wasn’t asking for forgiveness, but she was asking for a chance to defend her decisions. 

Evie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to ground herself and find the calm energy in her. “What is there to explain? You left us.” She didn’t hold the same amount of malice in her voice as she had at the beginning of the week. She wanted to know. No, she needed to know the truth, but if she didn’t know the truth, she couldn’t forgive Mal. She would still be able to be completely honest with the boys and that’s what was necessary. Jay and Carlos helped her more in the last year than she could ever thank them for. When she thought that Mal had died, she held nothing but guilt. She was known for being a perfectionist and it was her time management skills that caused everything. 

“I couldn’t…” Mal stopped and looked at the ceiling to try and collect herself. She knew it would be hard, but how do could she explain making a decision for her group of friends that she knew was going to hurt them? “It wasn’t safe for you to know on the Isle.” She took another deep breath to try and calm her jumbled thoughts. “I was hurt and for a little while, no one was sure if I would’ve survived at all, but I did and by that point, Mother had told me my options. She knew that it was nearly impossible to continue to rule the way she wanted me to, but she wasn’t going to allow me to show weakness, regardless of it. She took out the guy who threw the knife and the other member he was aiming for. She wanted to take out all of the witnesses, but there were too many people that had heard the news of the great daughter of Maleficent being injured. She let me choose how this played out. She explained all the risks of having an obvious disability on the Isle. I wasn’t safe.” 

“What about us? Did you think about us?” Evie could hear her heart break in her voice. She felt the tears prick the corner of her eyes, but she wasn’t going to let herself cry. 

“I thought of nothing but you guys. It was better for you all in the long run to disappear. You have too big of a heart to let me go. I had to make that decision for you. You weren’t safe. My recovery was the longest thing I’ve ever had to consistently deal with. I wasn’t sure I was going to even live especially when I got an infection. I was bedridden for a while. It took me months to figure out how to handle a wheelchair. Evie, I wanted to die every day for most of the last year. I begging my mother to end it all, I had seen her do it far too many times to other people, so why wouldn’t she just end it for me? I needed mercy and she was unwilling to give it to me. I had shut out every one in my life except for her and I knew that if anything happened to me, only one person would be grieving. I heard the rumors. My mother’s goons weren’t the quietest people in the world. I knew you came to the door when I was still in and out of consciousness from the injury. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but you have to understand, I didn’t want to drag you down.” Mal looked over at Evie and pleaded with her. She needed to hear that the last year of isolation wasn’t wasted. “You, Jay, and Carlos, you three were better without me.” She knew that it was selfish to cut them out of her life before they dropped her for being different. 

“You know we were a team. We were the core four. No one would’ve messed with you. Jay would’ve protected you from everything.” Evie knew that once Mal’s mind was made up, nothing would change it, but she wasn’t given all the evidence. “After your mother turned us away, Jay went into a spiraling anger spree. No one that crossed his path was safe. He stole more, fought more, and even lashed out at Carlos and me. He is still angry. Carlos went silent for a while. He kicked himself for not doing anything. He thought that he could’ve controlled you or at least went with you. It took a while to convince him that you were just stubborn and nothing would’ve been different if he tried because you wouldn’t have let him.” Evie tried to explain the thoughts of the others. 

Jay wasn’t angry at Mal, he was betrayed. Mal was the closest thing Jay had to a sister aside from Evie. He had known Mal the longest and if he couldn’t protect his family, what use was he?

Carlos only saw the guilt he still felt when he saw Mal. He knew realistically that things wouldn’t be any different if he had spoken up, but he didn’t even try. 

“What about you?” Mal was almost afraid to hear the answer. She needed to know how the others were torn apart before she could mend everything. If she had any chance to fix everything she broke, she needed to hear everything.

“I was a mess. It was my fault. If my mother hadn’t asked me to tend to the garden, I would’ve made it to the hideout. If I wasn’t such a perfectionist, we would still be the core four. You were hurt because I was selfish. The landscape wasn’t the way I wanted it and I refused to let it go.” Evie wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold off the tears, but she wasn’t sure if she cared anymore. She didn’t think she could stop herself from saying everything that she had kept in. “I thought I lost my best friend on October 18. I lost myself that day too. I couldn’t handle the crushing guilt. I stopped making clothes,” She looked down in shame. She was about to expose her darkest days to the reason she went through them. “I found you that day. I heard the commotion and when I walked out of the house, you were laying on the ground. I thought you were dead right then and there, but I could feel your heart beat. I didn’t know what to do, so I scooped you up and ran to your house. I had never seen your mother so pale before that day. She took you from me and slammed the door but not before telling me that moving you probably caused more damage. I was afraid. I didn’t think about moving anything. I just thought about you still living. When I heard that you died from the street rats, I didn’t know what to think. I ran over to your castle and banged on the door. Maleficent was agitated about my interruption and turned me away immediately. What was I supposed to think? I have spent every day since that day blaming myself for everything. Even now, you might not have been in the chair if I hadn’t moved you.” She could feel the tears dripping off of her face, but she made no move to wipe them off. She was already vulnerable and exposed, she saw no point in keeping herself composed. 

“Evie…” Mal didn’t know what to say. She wanted to comfort her old friend, but she couldn’t move. She hated her injury more than ever. “Will you sit with me?” She tried to offer her support to Evie. 

Evie walked over to the bed and sat next to Mal rigidly. She didn’t stop the tears from flowing from her eyes. She felt the sob bubbling in her chest and allowed herself to fall next to her once forgotten best friend. She needed to know that it wasn’t a dream. She needed her friend back.


	10. Chapter 10

Evie wasn’t sure she had understood what it meant to cry until there were no tears left until that moment. She cried for every day that had passed without her best friend. She let the guilt flow out of her chest in the sobs. She allowed the hurt to seep out of her in waves. 

“Evie, you have to know that I never meant for you to get hurt.” Mal wanted to shuffle closer to Evie, but she honestly didn’t have the energy to move her body. 

“Mal, you didn’t trust us.” Evie’s voice was raw from crying. She had to get everything off her chest before she could heal. She wasn’t ready to be Mal’s friend again, but she was willing to be civil. 

“I didn’t trust myself.” Mal knew that putting everything on the table. “Evie, you have to understand the position I was put in.” She was pleading now. She turned her head over to study Evie’s face. She saw the disbelief written on Evie’s face and couldn’t stop the pang of hurt that shuddered through her body. “I had to protect you.” She was struggling to keep her own composure. “You were a witness, mother wanted to kill all the immediate witnesses. She wanted to wait until I was awake before she went after you. She wanted to give me one last chance to say goodbye to you.” She cringed at the memory. “It was right after the infection cleared. She came into my room to let me know that the one who threw the knife was no longer a problem. She sat down gently on the bed and told me about her elaborate plan to remove all the witnesses. Your name was brought up, Evie. I couldn’t do that to you. It was then that I decided to just let the Isle think that I was dead.” 

Evie finally met Mal’s eyes when she revealed the truth. “How do I know that you aren’t trying to save face?” The words spewing from Mal’s mouth sounded reasonable, but the girl had lied to her already about the situation. 

“I have nothing more to lose by lying. You were always good at reading even the best liars on the Isle. I promise you, everything I have said tonight has been the truth.” Mal conveyed every ounce of truth in her voice. 

Evie studied Mal’s face carefully. Her eyes burned slightly from the breakdown, but she couldn’t detect even the slightest evidence of a lie. “I have to think about the others.” She had made up her mind that Jay and Carlos were the most important people in her life. She shrugged and moved to get off the best, already feeling uncomfortable. 

“I understand,” Mal felt her heart drop. She knew that the conversation went as well as she should’ve expected, but she had let herself hope. “Thanks again for helping me with the stretches.” She told Evie softly. “I’m just going to sleep.” She mumbled before she closed her eyes. She had been a fool to get her hopes up in the first place. She deserved the terrible feeling in her bones now. 

“Mal…” Evie could hear the disappointment in Mal’s voice. She wanted nothing more than to forget everything and just be thankful that her best friend was alive. She wanted to pretend October 18th was a dream and she just hadn’t woken up until now.

“It’s okay, E,” Mal knew it was her fault. She had to make the tough decision and she had to deal with the consequences. “Have fun tonight.” She had no fight left in her. It was stolen the day the knife stole her ability to function like a normal human. 

“I need to discuss everything with the boys.” Evie knew she had to tell Jay and Carlos about what Mal revealed. She didn’t doubt that Maleficent had a bounty on her head, but she was shocked that it wasn’t followed through. Surely, someone had heard about the bounty in hopes to receive the benefits of being on Maleficent’s good side. “I want to go back to being friends with you, Mal, I do, but there are so many things that factor into everything. I can’t betray Jay and Carlos.” She wanted to make a snide comment about not wanting to be exactly like her, but she didn’t want to add more salt in the wound. 

Evie walked to the door and turned around to face Mal again. She wanted to reassure the girl, but her emotions were all over the place and she didn’t know if she would make empty promises. She turned back to the door and opened it slowly. She fought her inner self to look back at her former best friend and walked out the door. 

“How was everything?” Doug sudden voice spooked Evie from her inner turmoil. 

“Doug, you scared me!” Evie grabbed her chest to try and calm her now racing heart. She had not been in Auradon long and yet she was already letting down her defenses. On the Isle, if she walked out of a room, she had to be vigilant. “Have you been out here the entire time?” She cocked her head to the right and asked when her breathing finally calmed. 

“Yeah,” Doug looked down at the floor. He couldn’t pretend that Evie wasn’t the most beautiful person he had the pleasure of meeting. “I know that your relationship with Mal isn’t the best right now. I didn’t want to risk either one of you two being upset.” He shrugged his shoulders like it was the most obvious answer. 

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you are still here.” Evie pointed out. She didn’t know why Doug cared about the kids from the Isle so much. “Aren’t you the kid of my mother’s enemy?” She tried to provoke something other than the kindness that was radiating off of him. It made her completely uncomfortable.

“No, the enemy your mother has is primarily Snow White. I am the son of Dopey.” Doug knew that even though his father was involved in the story with the Evil Queen, he was raised to believe in forgiveness. “I didn’t want anything troubling to happen.” 

“To her, you mean?” Evie bit out. She felt the anger bubbling up again. She didn’t know why she couldn’t control her emotions, but she wasn’t going to argue about anger. 

“Actually to both of you,” Doug felt his cheeks tinge pink. “I just want to let you know that if you need anything, I am here. I may not know what happens on the Isle, but I also don’t pry. I also can help with studying.” He wasn’t one to allow anyone to fail. He had excellent marks in school. 

“Thanks?” Evie didn’t know what to say. “But what do you want in return?” She looked at Doug suspiciously. Everything came at a price. 

“Nothing,” Doug shrugged. “I don’t ask for things in return.” It was true. In his sixteen years, he had never once asked for something in return. It wasn’t who he was. “Is Mal okay now?” He changed the subject.

“Yeah, she says there is no pain.” Evie shook her head to focus back in on the conversation. “I’ve got to go.” She said abruptly as she remembered where she was heading. 

“Okay, do you think it would be okay if I went in and checked on her?” Doug didn’t want to overstep, but he did still want to talk to Mal about what his little sister wanted. 

“Why would I care? I am not her friend?” Evie’s voice faltered for a second before she turned on her heels and headed down the corridor. She needed to find Jay and Carlos. Her head was swimming with everything and she knew they would steer her in the right direction. 

Evie ran to the boy’s dorm room and banged loudly on the door. She didn’t have the patience to be calm right now. She was radiating with anxiety and she needed an outlet. “Jay! Carlos!” She yelled when they didn’t answer two seconds after knocking. 

“What?” Jay threw open the door in frustration. He had been trying to figure out what was worth anything in Auradon and he wasn’t very happy about being disturbed. “Oh, Evie, come on in.” His face softened when he realized who was banging. “Wait, E, are you okay?” He saw the tornado stirring in her eyes. 

“I talked to Mal today.” Evie let the words fall out of her mouth. 

“What did she want?” Jay crossed his arms in front of his chest. He wasn’t going to deal with the outcast from the Isle. “Is she going to do another disappearing act again? Did she actually have the decency to tell us this time?” He scoffed.

“No, she tried explaining everything.” Evie chewed her bottom lip. She was nervous to tell him everything that was said, but he wasn’t going to hide it. “Maleficent had a bounty on my head. Mal said that…” 

“Oh, what so because Mal said it, it must be true?” Jay sneered. He had dealt with enough betrayal on the Isle, but Mal’s deceit was by far the worst. 

“She had no trace of lying in her face. You know how well I can read people.” Evie looked down. She hated going head to head with Jay, but she needed to work out her own thoughts. “I don’t think she was lying. I also don’t put it past Maleficent to put a bounty on my head.”

“Okay, but she doesn’t take bounties away without a good reason. What could she have possibly gained from keeping you alive?” Jay pointed out. In all the years he knew Mal and her mother, he had never known her to withdraw a bounty.

“Mal said she would disappear from the public eye for good if she didn’t kill me. Jay, maybe we were wrong?” Evie sighed and ran and through her hair. It was all so confusing and she wanted her best friend back, but she couldn’t get over the hurt. 

“Where are you going?” Evie asked when she saw Jay moving to the door. 

“I’m going to talk to Mal.” Jay offered before he slammed the door shut.


	11. Chapter 11

Jay stormed through the hallway. He knew liars, he was one himself, but the lies from Mal struck his core. Maleficent had turned him away with a lie and Mal had allowed it. He balled his hands in fists the more his mind stayed on the subject. 

“Mal!” Jay yelled when he got close to the dorm room. He wasn’t exactly sure which one was the girls’ in his anger haze. He wasn’t above busting down every door until he found her. “Come out here now!” He yelled down the hallway again. 

“What is going on?” Jay whipped his head to right. 

“I’m Doug,” Doug wasn’t sure if Jay remembered him, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to reintroduce himself. 

“This doesn’t concern you,” Jay glanced over at Doug in disgust. He had no time for stuck up princes. “I’m looking for a pathetic excuse for a fae.” He spat at the teen in front of him. 

“I don’t think there is a pathetic excuse for a fae in Auradon.” Doug knew who Jay was looking for, but he wasn’t going to make it easy. He had finally had a breakthrough with Mal; he didn’t want to make things worse. 

“Oh, there definitely is one here. She came over with us in the shiny limo your majesties sent for their charity cases.” Jay sneered when he spoke of the royalty here. He had no respect for a group of people that willingly let children starve and die. 

“I still don’t know who you are talking about. Were there five of you that came over?” Doug cocked his head to the side. He wasn’t about to let Jay degrade his new friend. 

“Don’t play with me.” Jay was only getting angrier by the second. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to the riddles that this clueless person in front of him was spewing. “I’m looking for the daughter of Maleficent.” He said through gritted teeth. 

“Oh, you are looking for Mal.” Doug smiled. “She is resting. It has been a rough couple of day for her with her injury.” He knew that Jay wouldn’t care about Mal’s need for rest, but he wasn’t going to throw her to the wolves easily. 

“I don’t care about her injury. She has been using that as an excuse for too long now. I’m over it. She can’t lie to my best friend and think that it is suddenly all better.” Jay was seething. He didn’t give pity. He had no control over how someone handled a situation and it wasn’t on him to feel sorry when his life was hell just the same. 

“It’s not an excuse. She has a spinal cord injury.” Doug pointed out the obvious. “Her muscles are going to start deteriorating if she doesn’t start working them.” He was honestly starting to worry about that. She had allowed her pain to get bad before someone had checked on her. She never asked for help and it worried him. 

“She’s a villain, how do you know she actually has an injury? She played us, her best friends, why would she tell you the truth?” Jay was smirking as the gears turned in Doug’s head.

Doug forced his face to stay passive. He didn’t want Jay to think about what he had just implied. He didn’t use the past tense when referring to Mal’s friendship with the group. “Did you know that Fairy Godmother looked her over?”

“Why would I care? Fairy Godmother looked us all over.” Jay had gone through the examination. His guess was that Auradon didn’t want any diseases carried over from the Isle. 

“Then you would know that you all had medical examinations. Fairy Godmother wouldn’t have allowed Mal to continue the use of a wheelchair if there were any falsehood of her claims.” Doug was gentle in explanations. 

“If she was injured, why wouldn’t Fairy Godmother just spell her back to health?” Jay was losing anger as more confusion seeped into his mind. 

“Fairy Godmother is powerful, but there are things she can’t fix. If it were a fresh injury, she would’ve had a better chance. She explained it to Mal and not to me. I’m not magical, I don’t understand everything, but I think it’s the way it healed.” Doug was starting to talk himself in a circle. He never understood the interworking of magic, but he was always curious about it. 

“They have something they are working on together. Magic can fix anything.” Jay scoffed. He heard of the tales of the so called heroes. He knew the way Fairy Godmother turned everything to help Cinderella with her prince. 

“You’ll have to ask her or anyone that has studied magic in depth. There are things that magic can’t do. It’s not as all powerful as you think.” Doug understood the misconception. He grew up with basic magic courses and around magical beings and he still didn’t fully understand the concept. 

“Yeah because Auradon has a history of caring and Mal has a history of honesty.” Jay knew he had Doug in a corner. 

“Mal didn’t lie to you directly. Maleficent did.” Doug pointed out. He knew it was a weak argument, but Mal never told them directly that she wasn’t alive. 

“Because the dead can talk.” Jay deadpanned. “Look, I know you know where she is.” He ran a hand down his face. He was starting to get a headache from this argument and he was trying to have words with Mal before he could go back his dorm and pretend she didn’t exist again. 

“Are you calm?” Doug inquired.

“Why would it matter? I promise not to kill her.” Jay threw his hands in the air. “Why do you care about her more than me? You met us all the same day.”

“I asked for both of your sakes. If you go in with your mind already made up, you will not try to understand her point of view. You miss her.” Doug shrugged and held a hand when he saw Jay open his mouth in protest. “It’s okay; you don’t have to admit it. She hurt you. Your feelings are valid, but to heal, you have to listen to her.” He smiled in sympathy. “She’s in this room. Do I need to stay here or can you be trusted to be civil?” He raised an eyebrow and waited for the answer.

“Why would you trust a villain?” Jay was truly curious.

“You aren’t a villain, your father is. Just like Mal. She isn’t a villain, her mother is. You have given me no reason to not trust you. Right now, I am giving you a chance at honesty. If you think that the situation might escalade, I can stay here and diffuse the problem before it becomes an issue. If you are able to keep it civil, I can leave. The choice is yours.” Doug shrugged. He was willing to do whatever would keep everyone safe. 

Jay shifted on his feet. He didn’t want someone from Auradon in his business, but he knew the King wouldn’t hesitate throwing him back to the Isle. While he hadn’t met King Adam yet, he heard of the reluctance to allow Prince Ben carry out his proclamation. “Do you mind staying?” He said after a minute.

“Of course.” Doug reassured Jay with a smile. “I’ll be right out here. She was sleeping when you started yelling. I’m not sure if she is awake or not.” He walked over to the other side of the hallway to give a little more privacy to the two Isle kids. “If everything goes well, can you try to get her to start physical therapy?” he asked quietly.

Jay nodded and pushed open the door. When he started his journey to her room, he was filled with so much anger and hurt at Mal. Now, his mind was running rampant and he was trying to hold onto the anger he felt. Anger is what he knew the best. 

Jay walked into the room almost hesitantly; he looked around for any clues of the lies about her injury. He noticed the wheelchair and quirked an eyebrow at the way it was haphazardly placed off to the side. He knew there was no way she could reach the chair from where she was. “Mal!” He shouted. He wanted to scare her. He wanted her to feel frightened by his presence. He needed her to see him with more strength without her.

Mal’s eyes flew open. She searched around frantically for her wheelchair. She cursed and felt her heart quicken once she noticed how far away it was. She turned her head to where she heard breathing and let her eyes go wide. While she was fairly certain someone from Auradon wouldn’t kill her in her dorm room at Auradon Prep, she wasn’t entire sure Jay would be as generous. 

“Get up.” Jay wasn’t yelling, but he left no room for argument.

“Can you bring me my chair?” Mal’s voice was low. She didn’t trust herself to not make the situation worse. She knew how ruthless Jay was before her injury and she wasn’t ready to cross him no when she could match his power.

“No,” Jay smirked. “I know you are faking everything. What are you planning? You always had a plan for everything. Remember the plan with Evie and trying to get her to sleep for eternity? You are a schemer. Nothing more. I will repeat myself one more time. Get up.” Jay felt his anger swell up inside him again. A small part of him knew that he was being unreasonable, but he needed her to prove her truth. 

“I can’t, Jay…” Mal sighed out. She knew this conversation was only going to escalate and she was honestly afraid of what would happen. If she died, it would be the end of her sorry excuse of life, but she wouldn’t face any consequences after her death. If Jay killed her, he would be forced back to the Isle. She was sure that her mother would hear about the murder and she wasn’t sure what that would mean for Jay’s future. 

“No, I said get up!” Jay yelled and walked over to the bed. He grabbed Mal’s upper arms and forced her out of bed. He held her up over the floor and let go of her arms. 

Mal screamed out as she flopped on the floor. She tried to catch her fall with her hands but she felt the pain shoot up her arms at the force. “Please,” She begged out. “Think about what happens to you if you finish this.” She didn’t care about herself; she didn’t want her friend to suffer. 

“Nothing will happen to me because I am going to prove that you are lying!” Jay couldn’t control his actions any longer. He allowed ever bit of anger to surface. “You are a villain. You are one of the worst. Did you forget that?”

Jay’s eyes were wild. He wasn’t focused on anything. He saw read and let his anger take over his entire mind and body. He looked cynically at the teen on the floor. He noticed a letter opener on the desk beside him and held it up at eye level.

“Jay, please think about what you want to do. You have a fresh start here. Don’t throw it away after such a short time.” Mal pleaded with him. “I didn’t allow my mother to hide me in return for your safety. Don’t throw it away.” She was getting desperate with every step Jay took.

“I’m going to prove it!” Jay told her one final time before he stabbed her in the upper thigh and twisted violently. He waited for the scream of pain with a sadistic look on his face. His anger heightened at the lack of response and he jerked the letter opener out of her thigh. 

“What have you done?” Mal couldn’t feel the actual pain from the wound, but she could see the blood flowing quickly out. “You need to run! Now!” She urged him on. “I won’t let you ruin your life.” She told him. She tried to put pressure on the wound, but she felt herself grow weaker. 

“Mal, I heard screaming…” Doug poked his head in. He allowed the screaming to continue until the last statement Mal screamed. The blood drained from his face when he saw the scene in front of him. Mal’s face had no color and Jay was staring in shock with a bloodied object in his right hand. 

“What happened?” Doug demanded of Jay as he crouched down to help Mal with the pressure. “Actually I don’t really care what happened right now. Go get help.” He yelled. 

Jay stood in shock. He had believed with everything inside of him that Mal was faking. He hadn’t considered that she was actually injured. She hadn’t even flinched when the tip pierce her skin. She hadn’t screamed in pain when she tried to get the bleeding to stop. 

“Jay, so help me, if you don’t go get someone, you will regret it.” Doug allowed his fear to take over in anger. He had thought the Isle boy was smart enough to not create harm. He had calmed him down enough before sending him off into the room. 

“What have I done?” Jay finally broke out of his haze. He dropped the weapon and felt his knees buckle. 

“It is okay, Jay, we can figure it out.” Mal reassured him. “Run, I’ll deal with this.” The room was spinning around her, 

“No, go get help.” Doug demanded again. “She needs medical attention. It’s the least you can do.” He can’t help the condescending tone out of his voice. “She could die.” He was being harsh, but he didn’t care. 

Jay rushed out of the room. He had to fix this.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry my updates are so sporadic. I can't promise they will be any different but I haven't abandoned this story. I appreciate the feedback. I love knowing you all enjoy it!

Jay ran as fast as he could. He cursed himself when he realized he didn’t pay enough attention during the tour. He had no idea where the medical office was so he ran to the Remedial Goodness classroom. His only hope was Fairy Godmother. 

“Fairy Godmother!” Jay shouted as he threw the door open. “I need your help!” His voice shook in desperation. He searched the empty room for a second and then turned to leave. 

“Jay? Good heavens, what is wrong?” Fairy Godmother came out of her office. She had heard the frantic screams from inside. 

“Mal’s been injured.” Jay looked down in shame. He didn’t want to admit to his wrongdoings but he knew the consequences would follow. “Will you help her?”

“Have you talked to the nurse? She would be better equipped to help.” Fairy Godmother tried to calm the young man in front of her. She was known for staying level headed during distressed times.

“Please, just follow me!” Jay pleaded and headed back to the dorm. He looked back with begging eyes and jerked his head for her to follow.

“Oh, heavens, I’m coming.” Fairy Godmother sighed and followed her student. She smiled and talked to everyone she passed in the hallway with no sense of urgency. 

“Fairy Godmother, please, this is an emergency!” Jay was at his wits end. His guilt over the situation was making his temper run rampant. “She could die!” He threw his hands up. 

“Jay, let’s not exaggerate. I’m helping a student right now and then I can help you.” Fairy Godmother reprimanded gently. She didn’t like when the truth was stretched for more urgency than was needed. 

“She’s bleeding out! Oh I forgot, the goal in Auradon is to let all the villains suffer by killing their kids. Newsflash, the villains don’t care about what happens to their kids. We are expendable everywhere, aren’t we?” Jay was getting impatient. He knew better than to ask someone for help, but he messed up and he wasn’t sure how much longer he had to fix this. 

“That’s enough, young man. I will not tolerate the disrespect from you. If you need my help, you need to drop the attitude.” Fairy Godmother left no room for argument. She wasn’t going to allow these kids to continue on the path of villainy activities. 

“I’ll find someone who cares about the students here. Hopefully Mal can hang on until I do.” Jay shook his head in disgust and started to run down the hall. He had to circle back to the dorm. Maybe Doug could help him. He had never felt like such a failure before and he constantly disappointed his father. 

“Doug, I tried. I…Fairy Godmother wouldn’t hurry. I told her what was happening and she still refused to come here.” Jay rushed out. His face drained of color when his eyes landed on Mal’s unfocused eyes. “Where can I go? What adult will help? Do you have a medical bag here? Actually hand me that pillow case and look for a couple of belts.” He figured his knowledge of first aid from the Isle would pay off.

“If you knew what to do, why didn’t you do something earlier?” Doug felt his anger seep up from his gut. “You know what, never mind.” He got up and stripped the case off the pillow. He searched the desks and night stands for a belt. “I can’t find a belt! Oh wait, here, take mine.” Doug undid the buckle and pulled it free from his pant loops. 

“Thanks,” Jay mumbled and took the belt from Doug. “Look in the closet for another one. I’ll use this one to make a tourniquet.” He took a moment and focused on the task. He silently begged Mal to hold out for a little while longer. If it were the Isle, the risk of infection would be higher than the chance of survival but he hoped it was different in Auradon. 

“How do you know what to do?” Doug paused his searching and watched Jay with interest. 

“When you grow up on the Isle, you learned first aid pretty quickly. People die frequently over there for various reasons but lack of medical attention after a sword stabbing is one of the major reasons.” Jay didn’t take his eyes off his hands. “Can you hand me a marker or pen?” He held his hand out.

“Here,” Doug pulled one out of his pocket and handed it over. “What do you need that for?” He was curious. He never had to learn much about first aid, Auradon had a fantastic medical department and while he excelled in science, his focus was mainly in chemistry. 

“I’m writing when the tourniquet was tightened. It’ll help determine the chances of saving her leg and life.” Jay never had to remove a tourniquet. No one was lucky enough to survive a wound that needed one. “Can you go get someone?” He turned to Doug. He had no idea who would listen to him. Fairy Godmother was the only one who he thought believed in second chances enough to help.

Doug looked between Mal and Jay. He left them alone together once already and now Mal was in terrible shape. 

“I promise nothing more will happen while you are gone. Just please,” Jay knew that his word meant little but he made a mistake when he let his anger take over his mind. 

“Okay, I’ll be right back, just please, no more damage.” Doug pleaded and gave one last look at the pair and headed out the door. He knew that the two people he needed to get were Fairy Godmother and Nurse Flora. 

“Nurse Flora! Can you page Fairy Godmother and follow me? There has been a…” Doug struggled to find the right word. He didn’t want the guards to bust into the room when both teenagers were skittish. Sure Mal was pretty much unconscious when he left, but he still didn’t want to risk it. “There’s been an accident.” He didn’t like omitting the truth. 

“Oh, Doug, lead the way,” Nurse Flora gestured for Doug to lead the way. She sent a message through the air and hurried after her favorite student. 

“Thank you,” Doug turned his head to the side, not slowing his pace. 

“Can you tell me what happened? I need to know what I’ll be walking in on.” Nurse Flora wasn’t rude. She needed to know what supplies she would need and if anyone else would be needed.

“One of the Isle kids, Mal, she has a puncture wound on her upper thigh. She’s lost a good bit of blood and she was nearly unconscious when I left to find you. Jay has a tourniquet tied but it doesn’t look too good.” Doug rushed out. He didn’t want to give away any information about how it happened. He was trying to earn the trust of the teens; he didn’t want to put a strain on that. 

“Mal? Isn’t she the paraplegic one?” Nurse Flora tried to think. She was never really good with names. Faces were her thing. 

Doug nodded and stopped at the doorway. “She’s in here. I’ll stay out here until Fairy Godmother gets here.” He knew to give space in a situation like this. “Jay is in there now.” 

“Okay, dear, come on in once she gets here. I may have to transport her to the hospital if there is a tourniquet involved. Magic will do nothing if she is already close to death. I can’t restore fae blood so let’s hope the hospital has some on reserve.” Nurse Flora patted his shoulder and walked through the door. 

Doug could hear the low murmurs as the information was passed. He fell against the wall behind him. He couldn’t understand why Mal hadn’t screamed louder. He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t went in the second the voices got louder. He let his head fall back on the wall and looked up at the ceiling. He had tried to do the best thing for the friendship in his mind. He calmed down Jay. He thought the anger wasn’t there. He had never been more wrong in his entire life.

“Doug! Do you know where Nurse Flora is? I got her message about the emergency and followed the magic trail here.” Fairy Godmother was out of breath. She felt the urgency of the message. 

“There was an accident with Mal. She’s not doing well. Jay had to tie a tourniquet on her leg to stop the bleeding.” Doug explained everything like he had with Nurse Flora.

“Jay?” Fairy Godmother looked away in shame. She had been sure there was an overreaction with Jay’s response. She hadn’t considered there could have been an emergency by the blatant disrespect he showed. “Oh, no, I have to go in.” 

Doug gestured to the door. He needed another second with just his thoughts before he went back in. “Nurse Flora, Jay, and Mal are in there already. I’ll be in, in a moment.” Doug’s voice cracked.

Fairy Godmother gave his shoulder a squeeze and hurried through the door. 

Doug waited just a second longer before he pushed through the door. He could tell by the grim faces it was serious. 

“We need to take her to the hospital. They’ll be able to give her the proper advanced care there. She’s lost a good bit blood. I’m not sure she would survive the magic transportation. We might have to transport her with the campus van.” Nurse Flora was fluttering around Mal. “We need to hurry.”

Doug spaced out and by the time his mind came back into focus, Mal was no longer in the room. Jay was off to his left with his head in his hands. 

“I didn’t…I don’t…I swear I didn’t mean it.” Jay muttered. “I thought she was faking everything. She didn’t scream. She just cared about me. She didn’t try to stop her bleeding. She begged me to get away.” 

Doug wasn’t sure if Jay was talking to him or trying to talk through his thoughts out loud. He didn’t dare interrupt. 

“I don’t understand. She left us. She didn’t care about us. She allowed us to believe she was dead. She didn’t send for us. She wasn’t there to pick up the pieces. She was my sister and I had lost her.” Jay voice broke. He wasn’t going to cry, but that didn’t stop defeated look. 

“You need to talk to her. Listen to her side.” Doug reasoned. From what he had seen, Jay was the least forgiving of the group. He wouldn’t allow Mal to explain. 

“What if I can’t? What if my freezing meant that she wouldn’t survive?” Jay breathed. He didn’t couldn’t stop his head from swirling with the “what ifs”. 

“You can’t think like that.” Doug couldn’t take Jay’s obvious guilt. “Think of something positive. It will help.”

“You don’t think of the positives of a situation when you are born on the Isle. I’ve seen people die for less than that injury.” Jay wasn’t pushing his misery in Doug’s face. He was just saying about the ugly truth of the Isle.

“Did a lot of people you knew die?” Doug wanted to create a safe space for Jay. With his father being Dopey, he knew first-hand the judgment from the Auradonian people. When he was starting school, he was put in the lowest classes offered. His teachers often accused him of cheating. He didn’t want any other kid to go through that. 

“On the Isle, if you aren’t a resourceful villain, you are hunted. If you are a child and your parent crosses a top villain, you are hunted in revenge.” Jay was bitter. He had watched many children die by his father’s hands. “It’s just the way it was. When Mal was hurt, the Isle was rocked. Everyone thought she was dead. Maleficent didn’t give any indication otherwise. She cut contact with everyone except her goons. She killed those responsible and it put enough fear in everyone else. No one would look in her direction after.” He remembered the way the lesser evil villains would throw themselves into walls and behind stands to avoid looking at the Mistress of All Evil.

“That must have been tough on you.” Doug tried to imagine finding out his best friend or even his sister was dead.

“It is what it is. That’s the life of the Isle.” Jay shrugged. “Thank you for helping.” He looked into Doug’s eyes for the first time since Mal was taken away.

“It’s what friends do for each other.” Doug shrugged of the gratitude. “Now, what do you say we go over to the hospital and see how everything is going?” He smiled in reassurance.

“Can we get Evie and Carlos?” Jay needed the strength of his friends. He wasn’t sure if he could handle losing Mal twice in one lifetime.


End file.
